It is quiet now, at 1 AM, the night’s hush deafening in its silence. I find myself awake, unable to go back to sleep as the moon’s light seeps into the room through the blinds, creating a pattern of lines that alternate light and shadow across the pillows.
It is hours now since I first slept, only to awaken with thoughts of the day just past. Thoughts that are filled with thanksgiving and praise for yet another answer to prayer; my heart being full of joy unspeakable at what the Lord has done.
It may seem an insignificant thing to others, but to me the timing and the provision are flashing lights that shout to me that God is working behind the scenes of my life, helping me before I even knew I was going to need it. Years before.
So, let me go back there and explain.
According to Empire Visionworks on Monday, it has been since 2007 since I got my eyeglasses.
I know. I got the same reaction from the ones that took part in the exam.
“12 years? Are you sure it’s been that long?” Or something along those lines. And then a telling pause that spoke of surprise at my guilt of neglect for my eyes. Now don’t get me wrong, there was no spoken censure, just a surprise that I had waited that long to get my eyes checked again. One they were understandably feeling.
Be that as it may, 2007 was when I got those glasses. Two pair. One a very lightweight pair that consisted of the lenses held together by the earpieces and the nose bridge. No frame around the lens. They had single lenses for reading. I loved them.
Yes – loved. Past tense.
The other pair was heavier with metal frames, with a shape that resembles those worn in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. These were bifocals, but were small enough that it was hard to see through the bottom half to read without catching the middle part where the two strengths ran into each other making everything blurry.
I was told I really did not need the bifocals, could just have stayed with single lens reading glasses; but, for whatever reason that I don’t understand, I chose the bifocals so that I would have both the single lens pair and the bifocal pair. But because of the size, I found I could not really use the bifocals much and so they have sat in their case all this time, only being pulled out a handful of times.
Fast forward to early summer when I began to notice the right earpiece on the pair that I used coming loose. All there was, was a screw and tiny nut holding the earpiece to the lens. I tightened the nut and they were fine for a while. But because I read so much, that screw and nut were forever coming loose and needing tightening.
Until last week when I went to tighten them and discovered the right earpiece in my right hand and the rest of the glasses in my left. The nut was gone and the tiny screw hung precariously in the earpiece. I made a mental note to ask my husband to see if he could fix them.
It was then that I noticed something else odd. For some reason, the left lens looked like it was peeling. It had been fine earlier that day when I used them for my Bible study, but suddenly it seemed as though there was a coating on the lens that had begun to bubble and peel off in spots, making it impossible to see through.
I struggled to use them to read, but could not. My Bible reading was done on my laptop, but the book that I had begun was set aside. I decided to get caught up on TV shows that were awaiting me on the DVR.
I began with five months worth of Christ in Prophecy with Dr. David Reagan. Shows that range back to March. Shows that I had previously just not spent the time on. But shows that I suddenly felt the need to watch. Shows that opened my eyes to a good bit that I had not yet understood.
And then, when those shows were done, I started watching the months worth of The King is Coming with Dr. Ed Hindson. Also shows that I had neglected to watch since last spring, but that I suddenly found myself really wanting to get into. These began part way through a study of the book of Revelation, and also a study of the Book of Daniel.
I found that I was getting a Bible lesson from each episode without having to strain my eyes to see without the glasses; and realized that if I had watched them before, I more than likely would have deleted them and not had them when I needed them.
Could this be why I felt compelled to watch them?
As I contemplated the dilemma of the glasses, I began to pray for help because I knew that my husband would not have the extra money at this point to pay hundreds of dollars for new glasses. I called Empire Visionworks and made an appointment.
And blessing of blessings, was told that they were having a 60% off sale on all frames, lenses and exams. No exceptions.
So I went in yesterday and went through the process of the exam. A new one for me as I ended up having to do a video call with an eye doctor through something like Skype; and he was the one that did the exam to determine what strength of lens I needed.
Thankfully, my eyes still were not bad enough to need bifocals, even though I have the beginnings of a cataract on my left eye.
When it came time to decided on what glasses to use, I handed the guy the broken pair and he laughed and said that they had not had that style in years, and that he would not even have the items to repair them. They were no longer made the same way.
So, scrap my favorite pair of glasses.
I handed him the bifocals and he looked at them in surprise and said it was a good thing they were in such good condition otherwise he would not be able to use them. Then he said that he would probably even have the correct lenses in stock. This was another prayer answered because I did not want to go days waiting for them to be ready.
We went for lunch at Burger King and then walked around A.C. Moore for an hour before going back to pick up the glasses.
There were so many prayers answered in just this one story.
I was able to just get single lenses to replace the bifocals in the pair that I had bought and never worn.
I did not have to pay for new frames.
I did not have to wait days for them to be ready.
And the final cost was half to two-thirds the cost that it would have been if all of this did not happen during a sale.
So I am thanking the Lord for His provision and blessing, soaking in the signs that He is working on my behalf months, even years, before I needed the help.
Postscript — I began writing this Tuesday morning but because of other things happening, I was unable to finish it and post it. I’ll tell you about all of that later.
Blessings for your day.
© Drusilla Mott and https://drusillamott.wordpress.com, 2019
On Faith and Writing 